| Contextual Infrastructure Planning and Design |
| Small Scale Project, Big Time Results |
| By Greg Hoer, Baltimore, Maryland 1-410-385-4146, hoer@pbworld.com
and Douglas Belliveau, Princeton, New Jersey 1-609-734-7008,
belliveau@pbworld.com |
| A roadway reconstruction
project in Toms River, New Jersey, illustrates the benefits of applying
context sensitive design principles to a relatively small project. |
|
In Toms River, New Jersey, East Water Street and Dock Street combine
to provide a southern bypass of the downtown area between Hooper Avenue
and Washington Street. These two 9-m (30-foot) -wide local roads had
substandard roadway geometry, including one 15-m (50-foot) -radius
curve with restricted sight distance. As a result of the limited sight
distance, narrow curvilinear alignment, and the volume of traffic,
numerous accidents had occurred along this bypass route.
Upon evaluation of the accident records, Ocean County Department of
Engineering determined that it was necessary to improve the geometry
of the roadway and retained PB to modify East Water Street and Dock
Street. The overall goal of the reconstruction project was to make
these roads safer for motorists and pedestrians, while implementing
context sensitive design that preserved the visual and historic qualities
of the adjacent roadside elements. Although the project was only 549
m (1,800 feet) in length, it included an abundance of sensitive areas
such as wetlands, county park property, specimen trees, a county arboretum,
an historic property and historic tree, two marinas between Toms River
and East Water Street, and a dozen residential properties.
We provided data collection, alternatives analyses, final design and
contract documents for the roadway improvements; environmental/ archeological
studies; support for a public participation program; and services
during construction.
Selected Alignment
and Roadway Section
During the initial phase of the project, we studied several alignment
alternatives to determine impacts to the adjacent properties along
the corridor and presented them to the county. The selected preferred
alignment straightened the existing 15-m (50-foot) radius curve to
a radius of 53 m (175 feet), thereby providing a significant increase
to the sight distance. This preferred alignment also had the additional
benefit of creating a piece of right-of-way that would accommodate
the planting of a small grove of deciduous trees between the roadway
and adjacent residential properties, thereby minimizing impacts to
these properties.
Three significant elements along the roadway corridor had to be addressed
to facilitate the reconstruction of the two contiguous roadways along
the selected alignment: an historic residence and tree, an existing
Ocean County park, and an Ocean County arboretum.
Roadway section alternatives that were studied included two lanes
in each direction, one lane in each direction with shoulders, and
a three-lane section with continuous left-turn storage areas. The
alternative selected for final design was a 12-m (40-foot) -wide two-lane
section with shoulders. Because lanes were not being added and the
roadway's capacity was not increased, the New Jersey Department of
Environmental Protection (NJDEP), Coastal Area Facility Review Act
(CAFRA) involvement was not necessary.
Historic Residence and Tree
An historic residence located on the north side of East Water Street
had been the home of a 19th century sea captain and had to be preserved
and maintained. This preservation was not much of an issue because
the roadway's horizontal alignment was modified only slightly. More
problematic, however, was the preservation and maintenance of the
easting large Eastern Red Cedar located less than 3 m (10 feet) away
from the new curb line and 1.5 m (5 feet) away from a new concrete
sidewalk.
Great attention was given to the tree during both the design (contract
document development) and construction processes, and specific tree
protection and maintenance work was performed during the construction
period (Figure 1). As a result of these efforts, the tree continues
to occupy a special place in the history of the town.
Ocean County's Waterfront Park
Waterfront Park, located between East Water Street and Toms
River, was constructed less than ten years before the East Water Street
and Dock Street project with funds from New Jersey's Green Acres Program
(Figure 2). The new horizontal alignment for East Water Street dictated
that a relatively small triangular-shaped parcel be taken from the
west end of Waterfront Park for road construction. In an effort to
obtain an agreement with the Green Acres park program, a small parcel
on the east end of the corridor was dedicated from Ocean County to
the park, actually increasing the size of the park.
This "land swap" was found acceptable to the New Jersey
State House Commission, the governing entity for the Green Acres Program.
Particular care was given to several elements of the park that were
impacted due to construction activities, including the reconstruction
of an earth berm, replanting of the berm and reconstruction of the
park's pedestrian entry feature, a planted arbor (Figure 3).
Ocean County's Arboretum
An Ocean County government office park and a county arboretum are
located on a multi-acre parcel of land in the northwest quadrant of
the intersection of East Water Street and Dock Street. Across Dock
Street from the County property, several homes located close to the
roadway restricted the amount of widening that could be accomplished
on the east side of the street. Similar to the case of Waterfront
Park, the solution was to take a portion of the County's arboretum
for the roadway realignment and widening.
A particularly significant impact of this proposed widening, however,
was the need to construct a pedestrian sidewalk along the west side
of Dock Street. This side of the street has a significant slope from
the roadway up to the arboretum and very large deciduous and evergreen
trees had been planted on the County property decades before. Construction
of the sidewalk immediately adjacent to Dock Street would have required
significant grading of the slope and loss of most, if not all, of
the existing trees.
Applying the concept of context sensitive design, the rather simple
solution we presented to the County was to construct the sidewalk
parallel to Dock Street, but through the arboretum. Two particularly
notable benefits were preservation of the existing large trees and
a pleasant pedestrian experience within the arboretum rather than
immediately adjacent to the roadway (Figure 4). This 183 m (600-foot)
section of sidewalk was readily accepted by the County.
Additional mitigation and amenities included within the arboretum
included tree work on the existing trees, pedestrian lighting along
the sidewalk, site furnishings (benches and waste receptacles), and
the introduction of several new specimen quality trees for the arboretum.
Conclusion
The East Water Street and Dock Street reconstruction project reflects
an exemplary example of how a design team, working with the client,
can indeed produce a project that is sensitive to the needs and the
context of the community while meeting its transportation needs as
well. |
|
Greg Hoer, a Senior Professional Associate,
is a landscape architect in the Baltimore office. He is regularly
part of multidisciplinary design teams for transportation and infrastructure
projects, particularly their site restoration elements, for PB's U.S.
East Coast offices. Greg is the coordinator of the PAN for Architecture
and Urban Design.
Douglas Belliveau is a civil engineer in the Princeton office. He
has been with PB for 17 years. A certified Senior Project Manager,
Doug manages a wide range of multidiscipline projects at the state,
county and local levels. |
|
